Analysis of Mississippi's policies

Mississippi does not have policy that addresses the factors used by districts to determine which teachers are laid off during a reduction in force.

Recommendations for Mississippi

Require that districts consider classroom performance as a factor in determining which teachers are laid off during reductions in force. Mississippi can still leave districts flexibility in determining layoff policies, but it should do so within a framework that ensures that classroom performance is considered.

Ensure that seniority is not the only factor used to determine which teachers are laid off. Unlike some states, Mississippi does not require that districts consider seniority; however, the state should do more to prevent districts from making decisions solely on this basis.

Exiting Ineffective Teachers

How we graded

LIFO policies put adult interests before student needs.

Across the country, most districts utilize "last in, first out" policies in the event of teacher layoffs. Most states leave these decisions to district discretion; some states require layoffs to be based on seniority. Such policies fail to give due weight to a teacher's classroom performance and risk sacrificing effective teachers while maintaining low performers.

Policies that prioritize seniority in layoff decisions can also cause significant upheaval in schools and school districts. As teachers who are newer to the classroom traditionally draw lower salaries, a seniority-based layoff policy is likely to require that districts lay off a larger number of probationary teachers rather than a smaller group of ineffective teachers to achieve the same budget reduction.

States can leave districts flexibility in determining layoff policies, but they should do so while also ensuring that classroom performance is considered. Further, if performance is prioritized, states need not prohibit the use of seniority as an additional criterion in determining who is laid off.